Assessment of pig prices perceived by European Union producers

Many pig quotations exist in Europe but, reflecting a situation on a specific market, for a pig carcass definition that often varies between countries, they rarely represent the reality of the price pig producers are paid. The aim of this study is to identify long term differences between prices actually received by farmers in France, Germany, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands and to set up a method allowing a regular survey of price evolutions in these countries to be carried out.In each country, different available sources can give some information on real pig price values. They are based on samples and need to be adjusted to a common standard (i.e. the French carcass presentation, cold carcass weight without VAT and over a civil year). Comparisons carried out between 2005 and 2009 underline higher prices observed in Germany (1.42 €/kg) and Spain (1.37), with lower prices observed in Denmark (1.31) and the Netherlands (1.30). Prices in France are usually intermediate.To get a better idea of the pig market situation, a more frequent monitoring has to be carried out. Based on a thorough knowledge of the way each pig market operates, weekly quotations were selected for each country. They were also adjusted to a common basis and amended to estimate the perceived price.The analysis of these weekly data highlights the existence of an important seasonal cycle, with higher prices during summer and lower ones in winter. In Spain, the differential is high. In the Netherlands and Germany, cycles are nearly superimposed, underlining the strong commercial links between them.